In His Arms
by deaths demise
Summary: Harry's sick who will look after him and be there? Set in slightly AU Sixth Year! Ron, Hermione and Ginny annoying him. Is the pressure getting to be too much? Who soothes his soul? Hints towards Slash!


Hiya!Okay so right now I am full of flu and feel absolutely lousy which is what inspired this little oneshot. I'm bored and can't find the energy to do anything else and can't seem to sleep either so er hope you guys like this little fic!

As always please Read and Review!

Criticism appreciated, Flamers tossed aside!

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Harry Potter and all its characters and places belong to J. k. Rowling :(

Warning: Sick/Harry Mild/Possible/Ron/Hermione/Ginny/Bashing. Mild Swearing/Cursing. Hints of Neglect. Semi-Slash Aspects. Don't like don't read it!

Takes place in sixth year, Voldemort has been revealed. Harry's sick and someone unexpected looks after him. Set in Harry's P.O.V.

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"Hey Harry, c'mon mate we're gonna be late." The loud voice of Ron Weasley yelled before throwing a pillow at me. I heard the thump of his loud feet as he moved towards the door, slamming it behind him and traipsed down the stairs. He barely even glanced at my huddled form on the bed or even asked why I wasn't up, usually he was the last in the dorm to wake.

No doubt he'll have Hermione up here to badger me in a few minutes time. I curse as I roll over onto my back, groaning at the effort. My body felt like a ton of bricks and my head was pounding, my throat was dry and burning me and my eyes felt itchy. 'Great,' I thought, 'I'm sick.' Urgh! 'Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.' I groan some more as I force my tired body into a sitting position only to fall back onto my elbows as a wave of nausea and dizziness hit me. "Damn it." I curse aloud only to notice my voice is barely there and what is there sounds hoarse and strained. Now my throat felt like it was on fire.

There was no way I could get through the day like this, especially not potions with Snape first thing and double defence with Kingsley. Damn! Ever since finding out the prophecy Dumbledore's had me trained by members of the Order and since coming back to school I've had extra training after the school day with them. the whole reason Kingley's here as a teacher is so he can be on hand to teach and train me. Speaking of which I have 3 hours with him, Tonks, Mad-Eye and Snape after school today as its a Friday. 'Damn!' I can't miss that, I need it, not to mention being ill is not an excuse, Voldemort or the deatheaters won't stop just because I'm sick. I can't not go.

Not to mention if I don't get up, then Hermione and Ron will just come and pester and badger me all day and make me go to the hospital wing, which I despise doing, plus then I'll have to deal with the whole school knowing I was ill and gossiping about me! There's no way I'd get to training and no way I'd be able to avoid my friends er loving care of me for the day. As for the school they've only just stopped going on about how I'm crazy, stupid ministry and stupid Fudge thinking they know everything and have a right to publish about me personal life! Now they all think I'm their Saviour and as such I have to set an example and be the epitome of a noble-hearted light-sided warrior. God I hate it all and wish I could just for once be normal and not have to worry about how everyone will react to something I do.

Better get dressed before my two best-friends come to hassle er I mean help me. Strange there not here already, its not like they ever leave my side, except for when I have training or need to pee and then there always on the other side of the door waiting. Well apart from as if I need to pee, he comes into the bathroom with me and leans by the urinal as I go! Honestly, I'm a big boy I know how to go. I do care for them but they are a bit too much for me, especially lately, I have a lot on my plate and they don't seem to realise just how much danger everyone's in and how much is riding on my succeeding.

Sighing, I steel myself and start to force myself to sit up once again when strong hands gentle grasp my shoulders and firmly but softly push me back down towards the covers.

"Easy there, you're sick, you need rest." A deep baritone voice said in barely a whisper, the smooth caring undertones of his voice lulling me obey. I wanted to listen to him and just close my eyes, letting sleep whisk me away to oblivion. Forget all my troubles, if only for a little while.

Only, if I don't get up everyone will know that I'm ill and Ron and Hermione won't just leave me alone. They'll be with me all the time and if not them then Ginny will be glued to my bedside. I shudder softly at the thought of being at their mercy. Those two may be my friends but they have no bedside manner and as for Ginny... well the less said about what she wants of me the better, I just don't care for her like that. I don't even care for her as a sister. She's just family of Ron's, yes, at one time it appeared that I did fancy her but it was all a misunderstanding on my part. These days being in the same room as either her, or Mrs. Weasley is an absolute nightmare, they are far too in to this idea of me and Ginny being this happy couple and getting married and all of the hints are just plain nauseating. I shudder some more and realise it's not just because of how repulsed I am by that thought, but also because I feel freezing, even though the blankets are right up.

Somewhere above me I register soft chuckling, through the haze that was my mind I realise that I like that sound, that it's reassuring and caring, not the loud and shrill laughter I'm usually surrounded by or the incessant giggling. The covers around me rustle slightly as someone moves and tightens them around me; I feel another blanket being thrown on top of me and feel a little warmer and securer. A hand comes with a damp cloth and gentle wipes my face, smoothing my hair down as well with long slightly chapped fingers before those fingers rest against my forehead briefly. I sigh, this attention feels nice; it feels very caring.

It's not like in the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey bustles about waving her wand to find the answers to everything and then disappears leaving you in the horrid stale sterile white room. This is all warmth and care, all gentleness and softness. This is something I've always wanted in my life but never received.

Hell, at the Dursleys I was lucky if I didn't get yelled at of hit if they realised I was ill at all, most of the time they didn't even notice. Since coming to the magical world I've noticed everyone relies on magic if someone is ill and they don't seem to actually touch a person to see if there warm or to reassure them just douse them with a potions and spells before leaving them to the mercy of their friends. Or at least that's what happens in my case.

I moan slightly as the hand is removed from my face, normally I'd be embarrassed by all this weakness I'm showing but when I hear the soft chuckling again, I feel a smile tugging at my lips and burrow deeper into my pillows. I don't want to lose this presence. I've never felt so calm, warm, safe and cared for in my life. Again, laughter at my antics as the bed dips from the person sitting down by my side. I feel warmth flood my stomach and ribs through the many blankets and try to burrow deeper to the source. More laughter, stronger more amused this time as that hand returns to stroke my face lightly.

A part of me knows I shouldn't be giving in to this, that I should find out who it is, that I should have my wand on me, that danger lurks everywhere. That if any of my trainers saw this I'd be in for a lecture on being aware of my surroundings and a rigorous duelling session. This part of me was heavily outweighed by the parts which were sick and were screaming for rest and the part which told me that this was needed and would do wonders for me that magic would never be able to do.

I feel sleep beginning to claw in at the edges of my mind, somehow the haze has dissipated over the time the persons being here. There mere presence was like magic for both my illness and my soul.

"Sorry, kitten, you can't go to sleep just yet." That sweet caring voice is back, but this time it's more bemused than concerned. "Come on. Life your head a little, I need you take some medicine before you sleep." Doing as he asked, I opened my eyes a little, as I felt him shifting to better support me as it seemed I could no longer sit up on my own, my body was like lead and limbs refused to obey.

My vision was somewhat blurred - not from my poor eyesight, Snape had soon fixed that over the start of the summer and now I had twenty-twenty vision, it's the only nice thing he's ever done for me, even then he moaned like mad about doing it - but from the effort needed to open my eyes or try to focus. I do notice the cup of water he's holding out for me, along with the two capsules of tablets. 'Aah, muggle medicine then,' I think as I pop the pills in my mouth and swallow the liquid, noticing the pleasant strawberry flavour in my mouth.

Seeing my surprise the deep voice answered from just above my ear. "Yeah I can't stand taking those potions either, foul taste to them. I find this works better." Again he chuckles slightly before helping me to lie back down.

Just before sleep takes me I feel him moving on the bed to lie beside me, my back was touching his chest and he draped one arm over my chest to bring me closer. I don't recall him getting under the covers with me, but he must have done. "Here, Kitten, this way you'll stay warmer." He softly explained as he adjusted the arm that was over my chest. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the innocent explanation. That is before panic reached me through my drowsiness that I shot up and out of his grasp, almost tumbling out of bed in the process. Fortunately he had fast reflexes and had me pressed tightly to his chest, both arms tight around my chest and waist, holding me to him as he leaned back against the headrest. "Shh, Kitten, everything's okay, I've taken care of it all. Just relax and sleep for me okay?" He soothed me, whispering in my ear gently.

"Wha'bout Ron and 'Mione? And ev'ry'one else? When they see I'm not in lessons they'll come lookin' n I've got trainin' tonite' wiv'tha' Order." I babbled and slurred out my reasons for needing to get up and go. Not realising I was revealing more than I should be. My training and the Order were top secrets, especially the Order, merlin, they weren't even legal!

More deep chuckling and laughter, only now its at a normal level and I can feel it reverberating in his chest, where my head is now resting. As I babbled, he's slumped further down the covers, taking me with him and wrapped the covers up around me tightly, now I'm using him as a pillow. Suddenly I'm not cold anymore and I don't feel the slightest bit embarrassed by our position, it feels so natural and right. Even though, I've never been so close to another in my life and I can feel his long strong legs on either side of my body.

"Don't worry, after Ron left I locked the door and have some rather interesting Weasley twins products to ward it, they guarantee me that nobody will be getting in until your well enough for it. They said to tell you it's the least they could do for their favourite little maurauder and any time you need help just ask them, they owe their success to you. Don't suppose you care to explain the last bit?"

I grab a fistful of his shirt, using it to lever myself up to stare him in the eyes as his chuckling subsides. I notice he has very kind chocolate eyes that were full of laughter and sincerity in their concern for me, though the more I looked the more I felt a sort of kindred spirit in him. Hidden deep inside his eyes were loss and pain similar to my own, he knows what losing a loved one feels like, he can relate to my pain over losing Sirius. But its more than that, as I stare at him, I feel as if he knows how a lot of what I've gone through feels like, maybe not the same or as bad but similar. Its the first time I've noticed someone so close to my own age group have similar sorrow hidden in their eyes and felt such a kindred spirit in another. A part of me wonders how I could never have noticed before; the answer comes to me before I finish thinking of the question. Ron and Hermione. They never left my side, therefore I never had time to study others; they didn't exactly let me think or get lost in my musings often.

Then as I fall out of my little trance my brain catches up to his answers, I can't help it and begin laughing uncontrollably. I see the bafflement on his face before he too is smiling, glad to see me laughing, merlin, I haven't laughed since way before the Ministry incident at the end of fifth year. As my laughter subsides, I feel his toned arms coming around me and rest my head on his chest. I know he's still curious about the twins, but we both know that nobody is getting in here for a long time and right now I need to sleep. There will be time later for me to explain it to him and maybe even talk to him about a lot of things as well.

Somehow my body feels a lot lighter and it's not just the medicine of his kicking in but that I feel spiritually lighter as well, discovering someone who cares deeply for my welfare and knows how I feel has dropped a lot of weight off my shoulders. Somehow everything feels better when I'm in his arms.

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Okay so this is it and I hope you liked it.

Read and Review!

That is all and just in case anyone would like to see this fic continued which if you do thank you ever so much that's wonderful but alas I shan't be, as I have too many on-going fics to have anymore. Also I like this as a little oneshot!


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